[2025:RJ-JD:51984]

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT

JODHPUR

S.B. Criminal Misc(Pet.) No. 8775/2025

Umed Kumar S/o Subhkaran Sharma, Aged About 60 Years, R/o Ward No 24 Ludiwas Rajgarh District Churu Rajasthan At Present Working As Clerk At Lords Internaitonal College Sadulpur District

Churu Rajasthan (Lodged In Central Jail Bikaner)

----Petitioner

Versus

1. State Of Rajasthan, Through Pp

2. Jeevanram Bidasra S/o Kumbhram Jaat, Aged About 42

Years, R/o Dhani Bhompura Tehsil Bidasar District Churu

Rajasthan

----Respondents

For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Kaushal Gautam

For Respondent(s) : Mr. Ramesh Devasi, PP

Ms. Sudha Palawat, A.S.P. (ACB),

Hanumangarh.

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KULDEEP MATHUR

Order

Reportable-

Reserved on: 25/11/2025

Pronounced on: 16 / 1 2 / 2025

1. By way of the present criminal miscellaneous petition filed under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), the petitioner has prayed for quashing of FIR No. 0034/2025 registered at Police Station ACB, Churu/CPS Jaipur for the offence under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act,

1988 (hereinafter referred to as “the P.C. Act”).

2. Brief facts of the case as pleaded in the criminal miscellaneous petition are that the son of the complainant, namely Rakesh, was pursuing his B.Ed. course from Lords International T.T. College, Shadulpur, District Churu. The complainant’s son allegedly did not have adequate attendance to appear in the first-year B.Ed.

examinations (Practical and Internship). It is alleged that the Principal of Lords International T.T. College demanded illegal gratification in the form of a “donation” to “manage” the examination form and fulfill other related requirements for enabling the complainant’s son to appear in the examination. In these circumstances, the complainant approached officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and submitted an audio recording of the conversation between him and the Principal confirming the demand.

3. The ACB officials verified the complaint, prepared a trap, and provided currency notes amounting to ₹20,000/- treated with phenolphthalein powder to the complainant. As per the trap plan, on 14.02.2025, the complainant met the petitioner, who was working as a Clerk at Lords International T.T. College, Shadulpur, and handed over the said ₹20,000/- of bribe money which the petitioner accepted. Immediately upon receiving the signal from the complainant, the ACB officials reached on the spot and apprehended the petitioner. When the petitioner’s hands were dipped in the solution, it turned pink, indicating contact with the phenolphthalein-smeared notes. The currency notes totaling ₹20,000/- were recovered from the back-side left pocket of his jeans. The trap proceedings were video graphed, relevant documents were seized, and a case under Section 7 of the P.C. Act was registered against the petitioner.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner vehemently submitted that the petitioner is innocent. It was argued that the petitioner, being a clerk in a private, self-financed institution, is not a “public servant” and does not come within the meaning of Section 2(c) of the P.C. Act. Learned counsel further contended that the material available on record clearly establishes that, as per the NCTE Performance Appraisal Report, Lords International T.T. College is an autonomous (self-financed) institution affiliated with Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Bikaner with an intake capacity of 100 students.

5. Learned counsel further submitted that immediately upon apprehension, the petitioner categorically informed ACB officials that the amount recovered from him was not bribe money but repayment of a personal loan of ₹20,000/- out of a total of ₹25,000/- allegedly advanced by him to the complainant on 12.02.2025. On this basis, learned counsel argued that mere recovery of currency notes, without any proof of demand from petitioner and acceptance of bribe, does not constitute an offence under the P.C. Act.

6. On these grounds, learned couns